all work and no play (let me count the bruises)
by IAmMyOwnBiggestMystery
Summary: Wally didn't know much about the poison except for the fact that it caused hallucinations, nightmares, and it infected his best friend. / One-shot. Birdflash.


Title from "Still Sane" by Lorde. I don't own her or YJ.

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Wally didn't know much about the poison except for the fact that it caused hallucinations, nightmares, and it infected his best friend.

It was some random alleyway, during a stakeout. They were staking out a possible member of Poison Ivy's circle, and he appeared to have, if somewhat weaker, powers similar to her's. Dick was shifting in place next to him, brushing his arm against Wally's.

It was warm.

"Rob," Wally whispered.

"Walls," Dick whispered back, mockingly.

"Wanna hear a joke?"

A heaving, fond sigh. "Sure."

"What do you call a cow with no legs?"

"What, Wally?"

"Ground beef." He immediately burst into laughter over his own joke, his laughter being so funny to Dick that he started laughing too. The laughter escalated until Kaldur shouted at them over the mind link to "be quiet, we can't scare him away".

The laughter faded into weak chuckles, them both staring at each other through their masks and goggles.

"I love you," Wally said.

Dick smirked. "I know."

"Don't pull a Han Solo on me, your jerk."

"You love me anyways."

"Despite all yours flaws, yes."

"Christ, fine. I love you." Dick turned back to the scene in front of them with a smirk. "Happy now?"

"Always, when I'm with you."

Dick looked at him, just as surprised as Wally at the words he had just spoken. "Wally," he murmured.

"Yeah, Dick?"

"You know how you've been wanting to come out to the team, lately?"

"Yeah?"

And then Dick spoke the words he really hadn't wanted to hear.

"I don't think we should."

Wally sighed, and closed his eyes. "And why not?"

"I—I think it's too risky. I mean, Connor and M'gann barely get away with it. I mean—and we're—"

"Two boys, you mean," Wally said sarcastically.

"Wally, you know that's not what I mean."

"Is it now? See, I wouldn't know, seeing as you hardly ever talk about your feelings."

"That's not fair! You're not exactly forth-coming either."

"Well one of us is going to have to talk about our feelings!"

Dick stood on his feet, seething. "Do you think it's easy, being Bruce's—_Batman's_—son? I haven't exactly been raised to express how I feel!"

Wally got to his feet as well. "Here we go again, you're using the same old excuse. You know, just because you have a well-adjusted home life doesn't mean everything is peaches and gravy either!"

"God, can you please just be sympathetic for once instead of whining about your own problems?"

"Why don't you listen to some of your own advice?"

"You know what? I'm gonna go over here and stakeout from there. I can't talk to you right now."

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

With that, Dick stalked off. But the villain they had been staking out had been attracted by all the noise, and had effectively planted a weapon right where—

Right where Dick had set his foot.

Reacting to his presence, it had released a cloud of fumes over him, forcing him to gasp and choke whilst stumbling backward.

He swiveled on his feet and turned to face Wally, giving him only a second of warning before passing out and falling into Wally's arms.

"Oh Christ…Dick! Dick! Babe, wake up!" He shook him urgently, receiving no response. He began to cry, shaking Dick harder. "Oh god, wake up, wake up, wake up…"

Thankfully, the rest of the team had heard the commotion over the mind link and had come running.

Not so thankfully, Dick was now infected with a toxin they knew nothing about.

Dick was lying on a bed in the med bay, his thin, pale wrists and ankles shackled down to bed. His arms constantly flexed against his restraints, his head bobbing up temporarily before setting itself back down on the bed. His mouth was open, harsh pants leaving his bitten-red lips. His wasn't screaming then, but about an hour ago, he had nearly screamed his throat raw.

Wally sat in the chair by the bed, his hands cupping his chin, keeping his head upright. He had nearly fallen asleep, seeing as he had been watching Dick for three hours, and had been on a four hour mission before that that had gotten them into this situation in the first place.

Wally shifted in his seat, looking for any movement on Dick's part, other than the panicked flailing. He heard rustling in the doorway, and turned, to see Wolf standing cautiously, waiting at the edge of the room like something kept him from entering.

Wally whistled softly, beckoning with his fingers for the animal to come closer. But it shrunk back, flattening it's back against the wall, whining low in his throat.

"What is it, buddy?" Wally murmured, trying to get Wolf to come to him for a few more moments before turning his attention back to Dick, who continued to pant and writhe.

"No signs of change?" A deep voice said from the hallway.

Wally started, turning around, to see Batman standing in full regalia in the doorway, giving a quick pat to Wolf as he left the room. He shook his head. "No change, sir."

Batman sighed, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to Wally. "Wally, if you repeat what I am about to say to anyone, you will find yourself in a grave bit of trouble,"—Wally nodded quickly—"but I'm terrified."

"Me too, sir."

Batman sat still for another moment before clearing his throat and standing, going over to the rows of medical testing equipment in the med bay, scanning his eyes over the papers stating all the tests they'd run on Dick. "We've run as many tests as possible without draining him of blood, and we can't find anything. It's like his body knows it's there, but has no idea how to fight it." Wally came forward, and then faltered. "What is it, Wally?"

"Sir, I think—I think that Rob would feel better, and the team too, if we were all in here. Together."

Batman's eyes narrowed under his cowl. "Together?"

Wally shifted on his feet before replying. "Together."

Batman sighed, staring at Dick, then at Wally, then at Dick again. "Alright. But just this once."

"Of course, sir." He searched M'gann out mentally before calling her. _"M'gann, please link us all up and get everyone to come to the med bay. Batman's allowed us to stay with Rob there."_

He waited a few minutes before getting a reply. _"On our way."_ He sat back into his chair to wait.

When the team arrived, they didn't really know what to do with themselves. Zatanna and Connor hovered near the wall, Artemis took the seat next to Wally, Kaldur paced, and M'gann seemed to be unknowingly levitating a couple inches off the floor, sitting with her legs crossed over each other.

"How's he doing?" M'gann asked cautiously.

Wally sighed quietly, rubbing a hand over his face. "We don't really know. He was—" He cut himself off, allowing one tear to fall before wiping it away furiously. "He was screaming for his. Uh. Birth parents earlier. But he's settled down now."

Artemis furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Birth parents?"

Wally chuckled humorlessly. "You didn't really think Batman was Rob's biological father, did you?"

Artemis blushed, turning away from Wally. "Sorry we don't all know him as well as you do,' she muttered.

Wally sighed again. "No, I'm sorry, I just…" He turned back to face Dick. "He's my best friend, you know?" He said softly. "I'd do anything for him, but all the power in the world won't help him if he doesn't want it."

Zatanna paled. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that the poison, along with bringing up bad memories, also appears to sap his will to do anything to help himself." He gestured to the straining of Dick's limbs. "That's him trying to escape his shackles. When we didn't—" His voice cracked. "When we didn't shackle him down before, he ripped the IV out of his arm and tried to run off."

Kaldur came forward and placed a reassuring hand on Wally's shoulder. "Kid, it is not your fault. You could not have possibly known that the plant could do this."

Wally shoved Kaldur's hand off angrily, turning in his chair to face Dick again. "I should have been more watchful, more careful. It is my fault." He cleared his throat. "We were arguing before he took a step back and tripped. It's my fault. I should've seen—I'm horrible—"

"Kid." Kaldur cut him off. "You couldn't have prevented it. It's okay."

Just then, Dick woke up, his eyes darting around the room, before widening, along with his mouth, before his screams started up again.

Everyone but Wally jumped, not expecting it. He rushed to the bedside, trying to catch Dick's eyes. "Rob, man, look at me."

Dick's unseeing cerulean eyes filled with tears. "Tata, mama, te rog nu! Nu, pentru a primi înapoi, vă rog! Cineva, oricine, ajuta! Un medic! Mama, tata, nu, nu!" He dissolved into further tears. "Te rog, nu mă părăsi, te iubesc atât de mult."

"_What language is that?" _Zatanna said nervously through the mind link.

"_Romanian,"_ Wally and Connor thought at the same time. Wally gave Connor an odd look before turning back to Dick.

"Sh, sh, micul meu pasăre, ești în regulă?" Wally soothed, shocking everyone even further with his knowledge of the foreign tongue.

"_What're they saying?"_ M'gaan asked frantically.

"_Robin was screaming for his mother and father and that they needed a doctor? And that he loves them, and for them not to leave him. And Wally—"_ He paused. _"Wally's said, 'My little bird, are you alright?' Why is Wally calling Robin his little bird?"_

"Wally? Părinții mei mor, Wally. I a păstra văzându-l. Sunt atât de speriat," Dick replied, his lower lip wobbling as more tears spilled over his cheeks.

"Da, micul meu pasăre, este Wally. Eu sunt aici, vă rugăm să încercați să te calmezi. Tot ce vezi sunt amintirile tale, promit," Wally reassured.

"_What now?"_ Kaldur asked Connor.

"_Um, he keeps seeing his parents die? And he's scared."_ Connor bit his lip. _"He's never admitted to being scared before."_

"_Yeah, but what did Wally say back?"_ Zatanna urged.

"_That it's Wally, and he's here, and please try to calm down and that all he's seeing is his memories. Why does Robin have memories of seeing his parents die?" _He got not reply from anyone. Wally continued to run his hands all over Dick's arms, trying to rub some warmth back into them.

Dick calmed a bit, but still looked distressed. "Este toată lumea în regulă?"

Wally pulled him into a hug. "Toată lumea are dreptate, micul meu pasăre. Dar am fost foarte speriat, și așa a fost Batman. Nu-i spune i-am spus că, o sa ma omoare."

"_Connor?"_ M'gann said shyly.

Connor groaned, but complied. _"Robin asked if everyone was alright, and Wally said we all were, and called Robin his little bird again, and then said that everyone was scared and so was Batman and not to say that around Batman because Batman would kill Wally." _

Dick settled down even further, blushing a bit. "Îmi pare rău."

Wally chuckled. "E în regulă, dragă. Dar suntem amândoi încă vorbesc în limba romani, și cred că Connor este obosit de a traduce pentru ei."

Connor sighed in relief. _"Robin apologized for scaring everyone, and Wally said they should speak English now because I'm tired of translating. Which is true, by the way."_

Dick sighed. "But I like having conversations where no one understands us."

"I think you owe them some answers, micul meu pasăre."

"Wally, what have we said about calling me that?"

"That I can."

"Really? I don't recall that conversation."

"You were asleep for most of it."

"Figures," Dick said, rolling his eyes, which then abruptly softened. "And it's not your fault you know." Wally opened his mouth, but Dick cut him off. "No, it isn't. Stop blaming yourself for my dumb mistake," he murmured, pulling in Wally for a soft kiss.

After he pulled away, Dick turned to the team. "Alright, what did I miss?"

The rest of the team had their mouths gaping wide open, but Wally had an enormous grin.

"Where did you learn Romanian?" Connor asked curiously. Cadmus had taught him the language while he was in his pod, but he had not yet heard anyone use the language in his real life.

Dick swallowed before answering. "It was my first language." He scratched behind his ear. "That's why Wally knows it; he learned it after he figured out how important it is to me."

M'gann piped up before Kaldur and Artemis could shush her. "Why was it your first language?"

Zatanna spoke. "And, um, how long have you and Wally been a thing without telling any of us?"

Wally looked down at his wrist before looking up and smiling brightly. "Oh, would you look at my wrist; it's time for him to go back to bed." He stood up from his position on the bed before herding everyone together and shoving them out, him following them amid protests.

"Noapte bună, frumoasă," Dick called out.

Wally grinned and turned his head over his shoulder. "Noapte bună, micul meu pasăre. Nu lăsați bug-uri pat muscatura," he turned back to Connor. "Would you do the honors of translating, Connor?"

Connor gave one more heaving sigh. "Robin said 'good night, beautiful', and Wally said, 'good night, my little bird, and don't let the bed bugs bite.'"

The last thing Dick heard before the door shut was the delighted laughter of his boyfriend as he shoved the rest of the team out of the door.

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